He said the Cuban inmates were "a timebomb just waiting to go off."

Cuban inmates have been paroled under three different programs since the early 1980's.

Cuban inmates today released 26 hostages they had held for eight days in the Federal detention center here.

Immigration officials knew that many of the Cuban inmates were potentially violent.

He and his staff met with Cuban inmates for several hours.

One person, a Cuban inmate, died of gunshot wounds to the head.

Cuban inmates chasing the officer had tried to stab him, the spokesman said.

They met for 90 minutes with three Cuban inmates and several Federal officials.

He indicated that the Government still expected the Cuban inmates to release the hostages this afternoon.

It was not clear when the other Cuban inmates would be deported.